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Dear Team,A call to action and engagement for all who share our sense of injustice at the practices of the major record labels (spit spit) and our belief that there is a better way.

As many will know, DGM hosts THE VICAR CHRONICLES, semi-fictional stories about the inner madness of the music industry (“Sherlock Holmes meets Spinal Tap”), which have grown into a groundbreaking multimedia project covering Novels, Graphic Novels, Videobooks, Audiobooks and the first Songbook by The Vicar himself – a project that would normally need the financial and marketing clout of those self-same major labels (more spitting and cursing).

This project deserves to succeed on its own merits, not on the “unmarketing” of which we were recently accused on the DGM Live website.

QUOTABLE QUOTES ABOUT THE VICAR“I would like to put on public record right now, once and for all: I AM NOT THE VICAR” - Brian Eno“The Vicar saves musicians. Simple.” – Emma B

“Since working with the Vicar I can NEVER...EVER feel the same way about Alpacas…” – Andy Partridge“THE VICAR is a genius. He didn’t pay me to play on his record, but he paid me to say that.” - Bill Rieflin

“All we are saying, VICAR, is Give Drums a Chance” – Bill Bruford

The wondrous world of The Vicar is only a click away on iTunes and Amazon. Dear Innocents, please sample, share and part with your hard-earned pay if you deem the Vicar project worthy; and even if you don’t. Along the way, perhaps we can discover and create an alternative model for this industry.David Singleton and Robert Fripp

I've never been a fan of the Vicar, too much silliness for me, that a company should be more concerned about what the hell they are doing, than continuing on with this nonsense. BUT, for you guys that get your jollies about whatever this Vicar character says or doesn't say, have fun.

Too much mystery for me. I have no problem with silliness, but there should at least be some basic information about the book they're trying to get us interested in. "Sherlock Holmes meets Spinal Tap" sounds cute, but all the quotes and blurbs and promos still don't really tell us a damn thing.

There's just three things in my life that I regretThere's everything I've done, everything I'm doingAnd what I haven't done yet

How long has this nonsense been dragging on for? It's a vanity project that no-one is interested in. Those that clap their feet in joy at the Vicar Chronicles are the same old sycophants who have no discernible taste.

Thankfully, I've never wasted my time with it or had any interest in this exercise in abject stupidity.

vrooom wrote:How long has this nonsense been dragging on for? It's a vanity project that no-one is interested in. Those that clap their feet in joy at the Vicar Chronicles are the same old sycophants who have no discernible taste.

Thankfully, I've never wasted my time with it or had any interest in this exercise in abject stupidity.

So I guess it's not British humor I'm not getting, huh? It got tedious for me a long time ago. I haven't liked any of the earlier free downloads, either, so I didn't even bother with the current ones. I can't even be bothered for free!

Mark, it's not a cultural thing. Funny is funny. Funny should transcend cultural boundaries. This material has been produced by people who think it is amusing - there's a certain kind of middle-class arrogance involved. Again, that's why I call it a vanity project because if anyone third-party producer had been involved, they would have either turned up the quality filter or said: "Whoa - this is a load of old bollocks".

I am sure someone will like it. There's always someone, but this particular dead horse has been flogged for a long, long time (is it a decade now?) and neither the stories or the music are any bloody good. Maybe, it's just me. Maybe I'm just a fucking old cynic. I still yearn for those exciting years of DGM 95-99 when they put out exciting and interesting albums on the label. But they didn't make any money and those days have long gone. But I can't see this making any money either.

I always found it to be just a bunch of ery! I think sending the letter out like its a call to arms for something really important is lame. Evey Kc fan who has shopped at DGM live knows about the vicar and no amount of outside promotion will ever make a damn bit of good because if we aren't buying who else will.

Well, I thought The Vicar was dead and buried since it disappeared until I saw something on Sid's blog weeks ago and now at DGM Live. I'd downloaded some of his music, but couldn't understand it beyond joke and parody.

What about Fripp and Singleton giving their approval to this nonsense? It seems that finishing 40th Anniversary releases they have free time to explore new trends...

I can just see Fripp, Singleton, and probably Sid (nah, not Sid) sitting around thinking, oh yea, Crimheads are gonna love this, they've been reading the Vicar exploits all these years, and these novels will be like a lost Larks live recording showing up. A work of art, from everybody reading about the most interesting character to spring from the minds that can't get a dvd structure right, or getting the labels on cds right. oh yea, we might be obsessive about the music, but I've never heard anybody say they were wild about the Vicar or even cared. be interesting to see the sales figures and reviews, if anybody buys them of course.

vrooom wrote:This material has been produced by people who think it is amusing ... that's why I call it a vanity project because if anyone third-party producer had been involved, they would have either turned up the quality filter or said: "Whoa - this is a load of old bollocks".

Indyrod wrote:I can just see Fripp, Singleton, and probably Sid (nah, not Sid) sitting around thinking, oh yea, Crimheads are gonna love this, they've been reading the Vicar exploits all these years

For 'all these years' I've been skimming at most. I read a few Vicar diaries when the thing first started, but none of it made any sense. Looking at the Vicar/Punk stuff has always felt like watching a group of long-time friends making obscure jokes among themselves about things only they know, then expecting the rest of us to find it as funny as they do.

There's just three things in my life that I regretThere's everything I've done, everything I'm doingAnd what I haven't done yet